It was then that Mitch brought up the subject of his courtroom hearing. “I suppose you know that the arraignment hearing is this afternoon?” he began slowly, and lit another cigar. His faded eyes waited to study her response.

“Oh, Mitch…I wish that all of this—problem—could be avoided,” Erin claimed, and he could read the honesty in her eyes.

“Yes, well, it’s a little too late for that now, isn’t it?”

“I suppose so,” she sighed, touching her napkin to her lips and pushing the uneaten ribs aside. Her appetite had diminished. “If there’s anything I can do to help you, just let me know.”

Blue eyes lighted. “There is something.” His voice was bitter cold.

“Oh? What?”

Mitch shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Nothing much.” He shrugged his shoulders and reached inside of his jacket for a neatly folded piece of paper. “I was hoping that you could borrow a little information from the bank….”

“What?” she asked, perplexed, and ran a shaky hand through her sleekly restrained hair. “Information? What information?”

Mitch waved off her questions dismissively with the clean white envelope. “Well, it’s really not all that important, except that I can’t get my hands on the records, as I’m no longer employed with the bank.” He puffed furiously on his cigar, cloaking his head in a thin veil of blue smoke as he offered her the envelope.

Reluctantly she reached for the paper, as her uneasy stomach began to churn. “This information—what do you need it for?”

“I know it’s rather sudden,” Mitch rattled on, “but I need documents that would help clear my name. Bank records, trust documents, computer printouts on the dividend accounts, stock certificate registrations…nothing all that important….”

“You’re not serious!”

“Of course I’m serious. Everything I need is listed in there.” He pointed dramatically to the envelope that Erin was holding. She dropped it onto the table.

“Mitch!” Erin’s cool voice was tightly formal. “Are you suggesting that I confiscate private bank records and give them to you?”

“Not give…I just want to borrow the stuff, until I can get this embezzlement fiasco straightened out.”

“But you know that I can’t do that,” Erin exclaimed. “For one thing it’s against the law. All that information is confidential!”

“Erin!” Mitch interrupted her. “This is my life that we’re talking about. I face more years in prison than you’d want to count!” His eyes beseeched her, but she didn’t waver. She spread her hands against the linen-clad table, and looked him directly in the eyes.

“Mitch, you know I’d love to help you out, but you can’t expect me to do anything illegal, for God’s sake!”

He chewed on his cigar and rolled it from one side of his mouth to the other. All the while, his watery blue eyes impaled her.

“Can’t your attorney subpoena the information that you need? Why come to me?”

“It would be better for me this way, Erin. Otherwise I’d never put you on the spot. You know that. But any information that my attorney subpoenas will be sifted through by the prosecution. If they don’t know about the information until the time of the hearing, I could get the jump on them. You know, surprise the court, confuse the D.A., perhaps avoid the indictment!”